NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Wednesday he would welcome an ethics probe into his approval of a secret payout of tax money that was used to settle a sexual harassment case.

The headlines have been a horror show for Speaker Silver and Sen. Tony Avella told CBS 2’s Tony Aiello that the payout smacks of the Albany “old boys” network.

“This is obviously a huge mistake on Speaker Silver’s part to authorize what looks like a payoff,” Avella said.